Downtown Riverside hosts affordable museum tours

Downtown Riverside is a popular student go-to destination with four museums all sitting within walking distance from one another, showcasing artwork and historic artifacts of the local Southern California area.

California Baptist University’s own gallery on Main Street, displays student and faculty artwork to the public.

“(The CBU Gallery) is a place of engagement, rather than just hosting students and faculty,” said Nancy Ward, lecturer of visual arts at CBU.

The Riverside Metropolitan Museum is a foundation with several locations around Riverside. However, their location downtown is a small museum, mainly showcasing objects of local and natural history. It only takes a $3 donation to enjoy the exhibits.The museum functions contains anthropology, science, and natural science exhibits.

Kevin Hallaran, the museum’s archivist, said the museum is a benefit to students.

“Education is always a benefit, and that is most of what we do here,” Hallaran said. The museum is extremely interactive and perfect for all ages.

The Mission Inn Museum is a non-profit organization. The hotel has a national historic landmark status, along with three other hotels in the state. The museum holds two to three exhibits annually, which change in theme every year. The exhibits are free of charge to students and the public.

“The purpose of the museum is to promote, preserve, and protect the artifacts and history related to the Mission Inn, the historic hotel,” said Karen Raines, the museum’s curator of History. “The museum is a great place to come to learn about local history,
which gets overlooked by a lot of people.”

The Riverside Art Museum is an exhibition that previews works of international and local artists. The museum hosts classes and events weeklyenriching the community.

“(The Riverside Art Museum’s goal is to) provide art enrichment to the community, through museum exhibitions and education programs,” said James Mortin, exhibitions and collections coordinator.

Mortin adds that young people will benefit most by contributing to the museum.

“The most they can expect from this museum could be measured in what they give,” Mortin said. Witha lower admission price for students ($3) the exhibit can be enjoyed on a budget.

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